Physics Program Presents

Summer Research Presentations

A Detection Algorithm for Microlensing Events in Wide-Field Surveys
Daniel Godines Alcantara
Las Cumbres Observatory in Santa Barbara, California
Mentors: Rachel Street and Etienne Bachelet


I used recently released data from the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) to model microlensing events with the goal of ultimately creating an algorithm that could detect these events as they began to occur. Using statistics to differentitate between different object classes (ie supernova, galaxies, RR Lyrae, etc..) I wrote a program that compares lightcurve statistics to those known to be microlensing, and then decides whether it is a microlensing lightcurve or not. We hope to have the software running at high efficiency in 2017, as the next phase of the survey (ZTF) is released.


Complex Trajectories and Quantum Mechanics
Max Meynig
Quantum Gravity Group, Marseille France
Mentor: Hal Haggard


Feynman’s path integral provides a beautiful conceptual link between the quantum and classical realms. A particularly useful manifestation of this link is in the semiclassical approximation where certain classical trajectories can be used to approximate the path integral. Semiclassics breaks down when tunneling problems are treated as there are no classical trajectories connecting opposing sides of the barrier. To properly treat tunneling problems with semiclassical methods the classical dynamics must be extended to the complex plane.


Improving the performance of automated program repair using learned heuristics
Liam Schramm
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Mentor: Jugal Kalita

Pizza and refreshments will be provided!

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For more information, call 845-752-7302, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 12:00 pm EDT/GMT-4

Location: Hegeman 107

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